The emperor headed toward the unconscious general on the bed and pried his mouth open. The pill was small, and it easily slid down Meria's throat without choking him.
And the effect was almost instant, causing Kerin to sigh in relief.
Once Meria had taken his pill, Kerin took his pills as well, and he felt his body returning to its original shape.
He could also feel the curse returning, causing the alpha to sigh in irritation.
"All this better be worth it in the end. I still want to claim you, consequences be damned."
Kerin held the omega's unconscious face in his hand and looked at it with a serious look on his face.
Meria looked so soft and comfortable right now that all of Kerin's anger and disappointment washed away from his face.
"I guess there is nothing I can do about this situation. I hope you have a good sleep and pleasant dreams."
The emperor warped his arms around his omega and pulled him closer.
The omega snuggled closer, his mouth mapping Kerin's neck and making him moan in bliss.
'Fuck, this is torture. Maybe retaking the pills so easily was a bad idea. I could have explained things to Meria without taking these pulls.'
Since he could not mark Meria with his teeth, he had to make do with his scent. And the alpha rubbed his scent all over the omega's body before falling asleep.
It was a blessed night for the pair.
...
'Something feels heavy. It is like someone is holding me down. It feels warm but uncomfortable.'
Meria opened his eyes slowly and first noticed the hand around his middle.
His mind flashed the scenes of what happened during his heat, and Meria blushed fiercely when he remembered the person he had imagined.
'Fuck! How could I be so shameless to imagine my dead best friend during such a time? Have I lost my mind?'
Meria asked himself as he tried to sit up.
The arm pulled him back, and a small body snuggled into his back.
"Go back to sleep. It is too early to wake up for us."
The voice whispered into Meria's ears and pulled him back to the bed.
It would have been a sweet scene between two lovers if only the owner of those arms had not been as young as he sounded.
'Please don't be who I think you are. I don't think I will be able to bear the shame and look Kerin in the eyes after my death if I fucked his underage brother.'
Meria begged with everything he had, but there was no denying the identity of the person sleeping behind him.
"What's wrong? Are you finally awake? You scared me with your pre-heat. Hey, are you alright, Meria?"
The kid asked, and the general felt his heart sink and beat faster simultaneously.
There was a small bit mark on the alpha's shoulder, and Meria had a sinking suspicion that he had made it.
Apart from that, there was no indication that anything had happened.
'I need to believe in myself a little bit more. I am sure that I did not jump a kid during my heat. He might look like Kerin, but he is not my friend-? Crush-?'
Was it right to call Kerin a friend after having dreamed of him like that?
Meria was lost in his thoughts, so he did not notice how Kerin looked at him. Nor did he notice the sudden hungry look in the young alpha's eyes as he took in Meria's naked self.
He only noticed something was wrong when Kerin grabbed his face and turned his face toward him.
"Meria, what are you thinking about? Is it more important than paying attention to me?"
The alpha asked, and all Meria could think about was how cute the emperor looked. He was not even half the size of Meria, and his huge eyes looked adorable.
'You fiend. How dare you lay your hands on such an adorable kid. You should be ashamed of yourself.'
Meria scolded his omega, but outwardly, he smiled pleasantly.
"I am fine. But Emperor Kai should not be in the temple. This place is not your ally, and you need to be careful with the people you interact with, alright?"
The general tried to scold the emperor, only to be given a cold look by the emperor.
"Stop treating me like a kid just because I look 12. And I would not have come here in the first place if you had been not so careless. Don't you see the condition you ended up in?"
The emperor sounded angry at Meria, and he felt guilty.
'Wait! How is it my fault that I am here? I got an order to be the Saintess's bodyguard.'
"Emperor Kai, about my order-"
"Forget about it. I will not allow you to be that faker's bodyguard at all costs. He doesn't even need protection in the first place."
The emperor sounded annoyed, and he was raising his voice as well. The intensity of his emotions caused Meria to feel light-headed.
Familiar pheromones covered him from head to toe, causing Meria to fall toward the emperor.
This made the emperor realise that he was letting his pheromones run wild.
He quickly controlled himself and his temper down. Once he was under control, he realised he had spoken too much.
"Look, I am not asking you to quit your job as the Saintess's knight, but please, be careful out there. Since the Saintess is an alpha, it makes me nervous to leave you with him."
The alpha emperor reminded Meria, and it was only now that Meria realised one important fact - he was supposed to be a beta and not an omega.
But the young emperor had found Meria after his heat ended.
'Oh god! Does Emperor Kai know about me as well? Does he know that I am an omega and not an alpha?'
"Emperor Kai, do you-"
"Look, all I am saying is that you should be careful when you spend time with the Saintess. You might be a beta, but he's an alpha, right? You could end up in trouble."
Meria's words froze, and he felt his heart sink.
'W-Why am I feeling like this? Is it because the emperor knows I am an omega but is pretending otherwise? I should not feel relieved, not rejected.'
Meria could not control his emotions, and he excused himself out of the room.
Someone walked past him as he exited, but Meria needed to look up to check who it was.